Stephensons' client John Bennett shares his experience after a failure to diagnose diabetes led to the amputation of his leg, John also provides an insight into how he found working with the clinical negligence team at Stephensons to pursue a compensation claim.
Specialist clinical negligence solicitor Claire Mooney also provides and overview on how the team are able to help people who find themselves in a similar situation to John.
If you would like to speak to a legal specialist in relation to an amputation compensation claim call us on 01616 966 229.
Amputation compensation claim - my experience by John Bennett video transcript
John: Basically, I got bit by a spider at home. I was a nurse myself, so I dressed it and everything, went away fine. Probably about November time it came back, really sore, went to the doctors just to get a nurse to dress it. Fine. But then things started to happen that shouldn't have happened, like I should have been checked for diabetes, I wasn't, by the time they had checked me it was too late. If they'd checked me in time, I wouldn't have lost my leg. I'd gone from being a reasonably fit bloke who had lost some weight, exercising, swimming a lot, I couldn’t do it anymore and nobody could tell me why I couldn't do it. I was training to become a motorcycle instructor, had to pack that in because I couldn't run alongside of a bike anymore. All they told me was, "oh, you cannot do that no more. Oh, your bike days has gone." Watch this space.
I wanted somebody to tell me why I'd lost my leg, I wanted somebody to sit down and explain to me why it hadn't been done the way I know it should have been done. I was a nurse myself, I know they didn't do some of the things, maybe they thought I didn't need it, but it's only a two second test, they prick your finger. If you want a good lawyer you’ve got to go where you've been told are quite good. Eventually by people just saying, "I would try Stephensons, they seem to know what they're doing", so that's what I did.
Claire Mooney: We find that amputees are often very uncertain about the future, and our main aim is to maximise the amount of compensation that they recover to enable them to lead independent lives. We can assist with putting our clients in touch with case managers and rehabilitation, we also have an independent department dealing with welfare and social services, and we can assist with those needs as the claim progresses. We also have a trust department, so at the end of the claim we can assist with putting a specialist trust in place should that be necessary.
John: If I want to speak or anything, there's no bother. It wasn't, "we're busy, phone back later", it was, "Claire's not in the office, can I take a message? What seems to be the problem?" And knowing then it will be passed onto Claire or one of her lawyer team without any delay, without any hesitation. They were very good at what they did.
Claire Mooney: We represent clients nationwide, and we're very innovative in the way that we liaise with our clients and we're happy to correspond via email, post, Skype, and home visits. We often attend UK court appearances and conferences with barristers all over the country.
John: Anything you wanted, they were there. They seemed always to be jolly and have time for people, where most solicitors I've had dealings with, they wanted your money. Stephensons weren't like that, but they took time to explain things and what was going to happen, and what they said would happen, happened.
Claire Mooney: It's important for clients to seek advice from specialists in clinical negligence such as Stephensons, because the instruction of experts is crucial in these types of cases. Our knowledge and experience enable us to locate and instruct specialist experts best suited for each individual case.
John: Over the phone, you knew that they wanted to talk to you about that specific problem, and anything else that was on your mind. Their personality sort of like boost me up as well, and I could phone up being maybe a bit down or something, but once I'd spoke to somebody in the Stephensons office I was back up there again. They cared, that's the main thing.
Claire Mooney: Unfortunately I come across cases such as John's on a regular basis, and my advice for clients such as John would be to seek early legal advice from a clinical negligence specialist.
John: Obviously I'm in a bungalow now, I've got no stairs, I'm all on one level. It's made it a lot easier, I will admit that.